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Naumburg at MSM presents Erin Wagner, mezzo-soprano
“Naumburg at MSM” Recital Series presents
Erin Wagner, Mezzo-Soprano, 2021 Naumburg Vocal Award
Joined by Pianist Maureen Zoltek
Sunday, March 22, 2026, 7:30pm, Greenfield Recital Hall, Manhattan School of Music
New York, NY (February 24, 2026) – Naumburg at MSM, a recital series showcasing Naumburg artists with ties to Manhattan School of Music, presents mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner (BM ‘19) in collaboration with pianist Maureen Zoltek, DMA (‘13). The concert takes place on Sunday, March 22, 2026, at 7:30pm in MSM’s Greenfield Recital Hall. It is a FREE event, and tickets are not required.
The Program:
Hugo Wolf Mignon Lieder
Heiss mich nicht reden; Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt; So lasst mich scheinen;
Kennst du das Land”
David Clay Mettens -the sustaining air
(6 songs)
Francis Poulenc La dame de Monte Carlo
Samuel Barber Hermit Songs
About the Artists
Mezzo-soprano, Erin Wagner, the winner of the 2021 Naumburg Vocal Award, is establishing herself as an artist of “versatility and musical curiosity" (Opera News). She is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music (BM ‘19), where she studied with Joan Patenaude Yarnell. A recent alumna of Houston Grand Opera’s Butler Studio, Wagner appeared in productions of The Wreckers, Salome, Madama Butterly, Parsifal, The Sound of Music and Le nozze di Figaro, and was heard in scenes as Béatrice (Béatrice et Bénédict), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Miss Jessel (The Turn of the Screw), Frau Reich (Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor), and Larina (Eugene Onegin). This season, she also made her debut as Hansel in HGO’s Family Day Production of Hansel and Gretel,
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Recent highlights include debuts with Ars Lyrica Houston in Haydn’s Arianna a Naxos and David Ashley White’s The Peace of Wild Things; Messiaen’s Harawi with Brooklyn Art Song Society; and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, along with recital appearances throughout the United States including a recital sponsored by The Shoshana Foundation for Bay Area Turning Point, a shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Houston.
A Wolf Trap Opera Filene Artist, she sang Dorabella in Così fan tutte (2024) and returned in 2025 as Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites and Mércèdes in Carmen. In the 2024/25 season, Wagner made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Frau ohne Schatten (Unborn Voice 3, Servant 2 cover), and appeared with the Louisville Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony, Brooklyn Arts Society, and Brazos Valley Symphony.
Wagner is a prizewinner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation Lieder Competition, Opera Index Competition, George & Nora London Foundation Competition, Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and Schwabacher Recital Debut Competition, and is a recipient of The Shoshana Foundation’s Richard F. Gold Career Grant. She is an alumna of Renée Fleming’s SongStudio, The Chautauqua Institution, the Merola Program, SongFest’s Colburn Fellowship, and Matthew Rose’s Scuola di Bel Canto. Erin has performed with Steven Blier and Bénédicte Jourdois at Caramoor and with Brian Zeger at Juilliard Songfest. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.
As part of the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s 100th Anniversary Celebratory concert, Erin Wagner will be performing early songs by Alban Berg on Sunday, May 17, at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
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Collaborative pianist Maureen Zoltek enjoys a diverse career working with leading vocalists, instrumentalists, orchestras, and opera companies across the United States. She is Music Director of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and previously served on the music staff of San Francisco Opera as assistant conductor, vocal coach, and orchestral keyboardist, and on the faculty of the Music Academy of the West.
An active proponent of new music, Zoltrk has worked on major premieres including Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber, and John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West, as well as the west coast premiere of Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life. A graduate of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, she has collaborated with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and has held assistant conducting posts with Canadian Opera Company and Opera Omaha.
As an orchestral keyboardist, Zoltek has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with major conductors including Boulez, Salonen, Conlon, Dudamel, Gilbert, and Gergiev, and appeared with ensembles including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. She is a prizewinner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition, and has collaborated with such artists as Joyce DiDonato, Patricia Racette, Eric Owens, and Welsh singer-songwriter Katherine Jenkins. Zoltek is also featured alongside mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges in Nicole Miller’s new commission and installation, “To the Stars.”
Maureen Zoltek holds a D.M.A. (2013) from Manhattan School of Music, with additional degrees from Roosevelt University DePaul University. Her teachers include Mary Sauer and Warren Jones.
About the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation
The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation celebrates its 100th year as the world’s oldest classical music competition. Today it continues Mr. Naumburg’s desire to assist gifted young musicians, made possible by its long-standing program of competitions and awards in solo and chamber music performance, commissions, and composer recordings. On Sunday, May 17. 2026, Naumburg will present an extraordinary concert featuring a remarkable gathering of alumni whose artistry has defined the Foundation’s first century: Awadagin Pratt, Andreas Mader, Anton Nel, Carol Wincenc, Colin Carr, Charles Neidich, Erin Wagner, Frank Huang, Jack Gao, Leonidas Kavakos, Lucy Shelton, Seth Knopp, Valentin Kovalev, and the Brentano, Emerson and Terra String Quartets. The concert takes place in the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Tickets are now available at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office.
“At-a-glance”
What: Erin Wagner, Mezzo-Soprano, joined by Pianist Maureen Zoltek
“Naumburg at MSM” Recital Series
Program includes Hugo Wolf, Mignon Lieder; David Clay Mettens, -the sustaining air; Francis Poulenc, La dame de Monte Carlo; and Samuel Barber, Hermit Songs
When: Sunday, March 22, 7:30pm
Where: Greenfield Recital Hall, Manhattan School of Music, 130 Claremont Avenue, NYC
Contact: Debra Kinzler ¦debra.kinzler@naumburg.org
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